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Articles by Jem Calder
“I’m A Culture Writer & I Shamelessly Judge A Book By Its Cover, Here’s Why”
We have all heard the age-old expression “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” It’s a cautionary tale, warning us not to jump to conclusions or judge prematurely, and it’s an ideal I wholeheartedly try to live by. But taken literally, I have come to the realisation that I have a much harder time following it. When perusing my local Waterstones, like a magpie, my eyes will always be drawn to the shiniest, most intriguing cover.
I Want You to Be Happy
He had promised himself he wouldn’t talk about it and now here he was, talking about it. Article continues after advertisement Not just talking about it, but shouting specific details directly in her ear. Certain things, obviously, he left unsaid. Over her shoulder, he looked out at the dancefloor, at the other men and women. Briefly, he wished he were a decade younger. After shouting solidly for the lengths of three entire songs, he came to the end of it.
Must a novel’s hero be good company?
Whenever my mother recommends a novel to me, it’s usually with a comment that the main character was “lovely”.
I Want You To Be Happy
. Jul. 2026. 272p. ISBN 9780374620554. $28. FICTION COPY ISBN Calder’s first novel (after the short story collection Reward System) is a discourse on contemporary romance, full of loneliness and dysfunction, texting and social media. Needy and self-absorbed Chuck, once a promising copywriter, is drinking his way through the aftermath of a 12-year relationship that he broke off with Sarah because he wanted freedom. Now alone with his freedom, he is struggling.
I Want You to Be Happy
Funny, excruciating and true, this is the story of a new couple searching for meaning and connection in modern times - from 'an extraordinarily gifted writer' (Sally Rooney). Uitgeverij Van Ditmar Boeken B.V. Imprint Faber & Faber Uitgegeven als Hardcover • Paperback Eerste editie 21-05-2026 Laatste editie 14-07-2026 ISBN 9780374620554 • 9780571387458 • 9780571387465 Aantal pagina's 272 Taal Engels
Natalie Perman - Truly, Madly, Maybe
When Vincenzo Latronico’s novel, Perfection, a portrayal of an expat creative couple living in Berlin, was published in English last year, it became one of Fitzcarraldo’s fastest-ever selling works of fiction. The publisher’s signature blue cover populated Instagram feeds and TikTok videos, ironically vindicating Latronico’s commentary on the increasing sameness of our digital lives.
Summer Reads - Heartless Girl
It’s been a long, hot summer. Is your TBR pile looking a little thin? Check out what I’ve been reading this summer! Reward System by Jem Calder This set of ultra-contemporary and electrifyingly fresh fiction is about a generation on the cusp, enmeshed in Zooms and lockdowns, loneliness and love.
‘A Restaurant Somewhere Else’: a story about chefs by Jem Calder
Aside from occasionally feeling left out of certain in-jokes and references whose origins pre-dated her tenure, Julia quickly slotted...
Search History | Billy-Ray Belcourt
What does a twenty-something queer Indigenous man search on the internet? The question sounds threateningly anthropological. Alas, my browser history tells us very little about the queer Indigenous condition. Mostly, I use search engines to fact-check things I say in conversation with friends or my partner. Because I’m a nosy Libra, I’ve also taken to googling the people writers mention in their book acknowledgments.
Search History | Hua Hsu
In our Search History series, writers expose the disparate webpages in their recent past. I miss how unpredictable the internet once was. Sure, there are still surprises — tomorrow the algorithm might show you the funniest or most depressing thing you will ever see in your life — but the internet of the past was more radically volatile. You used to wonder: will there be anything here at all? Where did that webpage go? Could there possibly be anyone out there who likes this thing I adore?
Tell Me Who I Am
My first diagnosis came from Dorothy, the middle-aged psychologist who I visited every Wednesday after school at our Boston suburb’s Youth and Family Services office. She wore rose-colored lipstick and statement necklaces, and though her eyes were soft and kind, her demeanor was business-like. I’d been referred to Youth and Family Services by my eighth-grade guidance counselor after showing up to school with a neat lattice of thin scars on my legs and upper arms.
Search History | Cat Zhang
IN OUR SEARCH HISTORY SERIES, WRITERS EXPOSE THE DISPARATE WEBPAGES IN THEIR RECENT PAST. As someone who writes about internet trends, I am in the business of overanalyzing minutiae, so you’ll have to forgive me for how earnestly I’m taking this assignment to excavate my search history.
Reward System: Stories
To read Jem Calder’s debut collection, Reward System, is to experience an almost uncomfortable voyeuristic sensation. The six stories, circling tangentially around a failed relationship, resemble lights crackling with electricity — so insightful and incisive, it’s hard to look straight at them. While the two protagonists, Julia and Nick, are not both present in every tale, the book’s progression highlights their breakup and subsequent friendship by filling in their backstories.
Review: 'Reward System,' by Jem Calder
Jem Calder's insightful, deeply intelligent stories are full of subtle humor and quiet sorrow.
Review: Millennial angst, vacuum-packed, in debut stories after Sally Rooney's dark heart
On the Shelf Reward System: Stories By Jem Calder FSG: 304 pages, $27 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores. A male user swipes right. A woman is notified. There is a pause. How to respond?
REWARD SYSTEM | Kirkus Reviews
by Jem Calder ‧ In six interwoven stories, young millennials navigate the gap between their overconnected digital identities and the yawning loneliness of their real lives. In the first story, “A Restaurant Somewhere Else,” Julia has started a new job as a sous chef at an upscale restaurant.
Search History | Jem Calder
IN OUR SEARCH HISTORY SERIES, WRITERS EXPOSE THE DISPARATE WEBPAGES IN THEIR RECENT PAST. I see it in myself and the people around me that almost all internet usage is, at this point, purely compulsive, the fulfillment of a nervous habit. Any supposed “purpose” or outwardly justifiable “reason” for our browsing is always secondary, incidental to our primary need to browse as a maladaptive coping mechanism.
Reward System by Jem Calder - review by Nicholas Harris
The overwhelming mood of this collection of stories is one of wintry alienation. Jem Calder’s interlinked cast is the economic precariat of twenty-something urbanites: underemployed graduates, office-job-to-office-job drifters and defeated singletons. They lead self-conscious, lonely lives, sliding past each other, their attempts at human connection never quite successful.
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